THE LOOP
Josh

My favorite time of the year!

Christmas is hands down my favorite time of the year. I’m all up for the lights, the music, and the weather. In my opinion, it is truly the happiest time of the year (unless you are in the mall on Christmas week. No one is happy in there during that time).

 

My family’s tradition is not necessarily unique, but it is special to me. On the 24th we usually pick a house and our extended family and friends meet there. We enjoy a meal together, and then everyone goes their on way at around 10:30pm. My immediate family then meet at my parents house, and play family games until 12am. At that time we all gather in the living room, and with some Christmas music in the background, we all open presents one by one. Once we are all done unwrapping presents, we turn on the fireplace and enjoy a fresh cup of hot coco with marshmallows, and talk for the rest of the night. We have been doing these for many years now, and it never gets old. The little things are usually the ones we tend to overlook and then later miss the most down the road. This is why lately I have made it a goal of mine to remember to enjoy the little things (and yes, I got this from the movie Zombieland, it's an awesome movie). So don’t forget to enjoy the little things, specially during this time of year!

 

P.S. I know it is always exciting to open presents on Christmas day, but please take it slow and be careful out there. 

 

Rick

The Grinch

Hello Everyone,

Let me start this off by saying that I am a little bit of a Grinch. In general I can give or take Christmas. My wife and her family are the opposite, they love Christmas and over the course of the last 13 years they have done their best to make me like Christmas(a little) so I will talk about their traditions. One thing that they do that is really cool is my mother in law likes to make a game out of some part of the Christmas gathering. One year we did Christmas at our house and over the course of multiple visits my mother in law managed to hide all of the pieces of the scavenger hunt around the house without us noticing. At the end of the hunt she had stockings for each of us, it was pretty cool. There was also a year that she bought puzzle boxes, put money in them and pitted my wife and I against my sister in law and her husband to see who could complete the puzzles the fastest (spoiler, we won). 

Happy Holidays!

Hauson

Christmas in Hong Kong

Growing up, one think I looked forward to the most during the holiday season was seeing all the Christmas lights in the city. Since Hong Kong is surrounded by skyscrapers, it is one way for companies and developers to promote their business that way, but it does not take away from the holiday spirit. Walking through the city during this time of the year is truly magical and it is one thing I can never get tired of.